The Buckeyes lost the best game of the tournament thus far. It was pretty painful. Check out my Bucknuts article if you want to absorb my disappointment. It sucked. “Every possession in the second half seemed to consist of 20 seconds spent around half court, barely avoiding turnovers, ten second calls, and over and backs. When the Buckeyes did manage to set up the offense, they seemed hesitant to attack and left little time to run plays for Buford or Diebler to get open looks. Ultimately almost every possession came down to the single digits on the shot clock as the offense seemed mentally and physically taxed by a pretty standard half court trap. Seemingly the majority of this game was spent defending multiple shot possessions and surviving an aggressive half court trap. David Lighty watching, unable to help push the Buckeyes to victory.
Defensively the Buckeyes gave up a whopping 21 offensive rebounds and were only able to haul in 7 on the opposite end. This combined with an inability to get stops in a handful of key scenarios, pulled the plug on what was generally a very successful Ohio State season. Diebler couldn’t buy a bucket, Matta might have been a little too generous in minutes for Walter Offutt, and guard play was largely abysmal. It is what it is: A game they should have won, a game they win three times out of four, and a game that will linger like a bad fart in a crowded elevator. “
The silver lining is that star, Evan Turner reaffirmed his decision to come back rather then going to the NBA.
The Buckeyes are likely a top 10-15 team with Turner returning and could be a top ten team if big man BJ Mullens comes back as well.
Although the Buckeyes do get back David Lighty coming off of injury, Turner was the one of the best if not the best player in the conference. With four great scorers in Turner, Lighty, Diebler, and Buford along with the defense of PJ Hill and Dallas Lauderdale, their is strong sense of optimistm next year.
Still though, a pretty painful way to end this year.
